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New Girl Review: One Night Stands

Happy Valentine’s Day, Newbies! We’ve been waiting a long time for New Girl to do V-Day, especially since the news broke that Ryan Kwanten of True Blood fame would be guest starring. But, surprise! He wasn’t even the focal point of the episode.

What or who was the focus of this week’s New Girl adventures? That’s a good question. New Girl started out as a Zooey Deschanel vehicle with the dudes as a sort of Greek Chorus to her adorkable Antigone (omg, I can’t believe I just typed that. It’s either the best or the worst phrase ever created in the English language). But as the show continued, and the guys came into their own as characters, New Girl morphed into an ensemble show that juggles multiple storylines each week, often giving equal attention to each character.

Screen time in "Valentine's Day" felt the most evenly shared to date, but with so many storylines to cover in thirty minutes, things were a little chaotic this week.

It started out solid: Jess wanted to have her first one night stand and who better to wingman her than Schmidt and CeCe? The trio headed out for the night, Nick went to meet Julia, Winston to meet Shelby, and the episode began to snowball. Soon, scenes were rushing by with little time to savor the offbeat comments before another more ridiculous situation cropped up. A master of the awkward, New Girl does a great job of making the ridiculous feel natural and not relying on throw away gags, but tonight it seemed like the writers whipped out their “Plot Jar” and started pulling things out at random.

Still, there were some funny lines. Check them out on the quotes page.

The most problematic storyline was Jess’ one night stand with Kwanten’s Oliver. I have no problem with Oliver totally lacking a personality, having an obsession with tacos, and thinking that a "Web Creator" is a legitimate profession because he was intended to be a fling - but having the ex-girlfriend pop up and block Jess’ tryst just felt forced. This is the show that once had Jess try to defrost a turkey with her body heat! Anything is fair game, and they go with the clichéd ex routine?

So, Jess gets a downgrade this week, but Winston and Nick receive thumbs up. Expecting to spend a romantic night in with Shelby, Winston arrives at her apartment to find that he’s been invited to a girl’s night. Taking it in stride, he sticks it out and earns a Valentine’s Day kiss for his efforts.

Nick is also stuck in a situation he wasn’t expecting when Julia’s demanding job forces them to miss their Valentine’s dinner. Instead of ending with an argument like many other shows would, New Girl brings it to a close with Nick trying to help Julia out. That, and photocopying his butt.

Last week, we saw the moment when Nick became disillusioned with people, and this week Nick reveals a little more. Turns out, his heart was broken in law school and this led him to make some rash decisions, including playing in an all-country ska band and entering a cock fight in Mexico. This definitely made me laugh, but it seemed like something that belonged more in Schmidt’s wheelhouse than Nick’s.

Speaking of things in Schmidt’s wheelhouse, Schmidt and CeCe finally got together! As I mentioned before, I’m not a Jess/Nick fan. I am, however, a CeCe/Schmidt fan. Let’s face it, you could replace CeCe’s name with pretty much anyone’s (like Jess’, for instance) in that equation and I would want to see it happen. CeCe didn’t look too happy about her decision the next morning, though, so expect drama next week.

How do you guys feel about Schmidt and CeCe? Also, since New Girl is raking in the guest stars, who else do you want to see appear on the show? My vote goes to Vampire Diaries' Ian Somerhalder - Schmidt loves the show, apparently - or Park and Recreations' Nick Offerman.

Stray Observations

Two main characters have hooked up. There’s no turning back now. The floodgates are open, and anything could happen. My only request, New Girl, is that you keep it quirky. Please don’t turn into Friends or How I Met Your Mother with cupcakes. We will have to part ways if you do.

CeCe and Schmidt are the best wingman team, ever. There is serious spin-off material there.